I cannot really call it a "racing" trimaran, as it was sailed 16000 miles to Barbados singlehanded(!) from Australia, by Guy Chester. But it was easily the fastest boat in Barbados for the week it was here. Guy has now sailed on to other islands as he is competing in all the different Caribbean regattas.

 

There were 6 of us on board, from 5 different countries! No one had sailed with Guy before, and obviously only Guy had sailed the boat, so it was a big learning experience for everyone. And that meant it was too stressful and hectic to make any normal videos. Fortunately Bajan sailor Marianna was able to get some clips on her phone and then, amazingly, upload them before we were back on the mooring. See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MpkOi0HyJA

 

We had four too-short practice races before the main event - the Round Barbados race. This is a similar length (roughly 60 miles) to the UK's Round the Island race but without the tidal considerations, although outlying reefs meant we kept further offshore than one would in the RtI, where keeping out of the tide by sailing along the 10ft contour is the norm.

 

Sailing clockwise round meant starting with a fast, flat water, close reach, then a short beat round the north end to what we hoped would be a fast broad reach down the east of island. But the wind had other ideas and it was another close reach until we got to East Point and could bear off and hoist the screecher. Swells and winds up to 24 knots true made it a bit marginal for an asymmetric spinnaker. Even so, top speed was 24 knots, and 16 knots to windward which made it a wet boat in the trade wind waves!

 

The heading photo shows us crossing the finish line, just over 5 hours from the start and about 65 nautical miles sailed.

 

Overall I was very impressed with the design and build, it's a great credit to Lock Crowther who designed it over 30 years ago.

 

When Guy left for Antigua he said "see you in 2024 for the Fastnet Race", so I hope he makes good on that promise, as it will be interesting to see how he matches up against European competition.